dermott
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
- Posts
- 198
- Likes
- 81
My HEKSEs have landed and.......wow.
My journey through headfi truly started with my first "serious" headphone being the Audeze LCD-2 prefazor (just before they went fazor). My youth was things like Grado SR60s and Senn HD598s, so the leap to Audeze was a big one. When I picked those up back in the day, I thought they were incredible. The key thing for me was the rich, warm sound. I enjoyed them for many years and still own them. Fast forward almost a decade to when I got on the Hifiman train with the Arya V2. Again, I was amazed at the difference and increase of enjoyment. This time it was clarity and soundstage that wowed me. A recent family situation compelled me to gift the Arya V2 to my father, so I was left without the headphone experience to which I was accustomed. I pulled out the old LDC-2s but found I could not go back. The warmth of those cans, almost thick, is really all I appreciate about them now. Once you have heard something like the Arya V2, the stage of something like those older LCDs is almost nonexistent. Intimate is one thing, flat is another. It is really amazing how many elements of headphone presentation there really are.
From here I was think about my next acquisition. I was torn between the Arya V2 sound I was currently enjoying but also having fond memories of the warmer sound of the LCDs. I was leaning toward ZMF Atriums, but when the Hifiman summer pricing hit, I could not resist. Pouring over the reviews and musings of members here and elsewhere for all the models in contention was truly grueling. I knew I did not want to go with the Arya Stealth (soundstage size), so the focus was Arya Organic, HEKV2, HEKV2 Stealth and HEKSE. Not wanting to give up the stage I had with the Arya V2 and curious to see how for down the rabbit hole goes, I decided to go for the throat and pick up the HEKSE.
Well, I have only had a short time with them, but yet again I am amazed at the next level these things are on. I queued up an older 70's recording with which I am very familiar that has a 2015 Japanese remaster. I was shocked at what I am hearing in this track. The first thing I noticed was the separation and space in the recording. I have been listening to this recording for decades and the original release was pretty pedestrian. When I came across the remastered version, it was like hearing it as it was intended to be heard. But now with the HEKSEs, I have found a new level in this song. What I hear now is the emptiness in the song, the space between the instruments, the "not the song" that always existed but I did not know was there. It is as if the density of the song has changed. Its the same recording with all the same parts, but now it feels different. Amazing.
My journey through headfi truly started with my first "serious" headphone being the Audeze LCD-2 prefazor (just before they went fazor). My youth was things like Grado SR60s and Senn HD598s, so the leap to Audeze was a big one. When I picked those up back in the day, I thought they were incredible. The key thing for me was the rich, warm sound. I enjoyed them for many years and still own them. Fast forward almost a decade to when I got on the Hifiman train with the Arya V2. Again, I was amazed at the difference and increase of enjoyment. This time it was clarity and soundstage that wowed me. A recent family situation compelled me to gift the Arya V2 to my father, so I was left without the headphone experience to which I was accustomed. I pulled out the old LDC-2s but found I could not go back. The warmth of those cans, almost thick, is really all I appreciate about them now. Once you have heard something like the Arya V2, the stage of something like those older LCDs is almost nonexistent. Intimate is one thing, flat is another. It is really amazing how many elements of headphone presentation there really are.
From here I was think about my next acquisition. I was torn between the Arya V2 sound I was currently enjoying but also having fond memories of the warmer sound of the LCDs. I was leaning toward ZMF Atriums, but when the Hifiman summer pricing hit, I could not resist. Pouring over the reviews and musings of members here and elsewhere for all the models in contention was truly grueling. I knew I did not want to go with the Arya Stealth (soundstage size), so the focus was Arya Organic, HEKV2, HEKV2 Stealth and HEKSE. Not wanting to give up the stage I had with the Arya V2 and curious to see how for down the rabbit hole goes, I decided to go for the throat and pick up the HEKSE.
Well, I have only had a short time with them, but yet again I am amazed at the next level these things are on. I queued up an older 70's recording with which I am very familiar that has a 2015 Japanese remaster. I was shocked at what I am hearing in this track. The first thing I noticed was the separation and space in the recording. I have been listening to this recording for decades and the original release was pretty pedestrian. When I came across the remastered version, it was like hearing it as it was intended to be heard. But now with the HEKSEs, I have found a new level in this song. What I hear now is the emptiness in the song, the space between the instruments, the "not the song" that always existed but I did not know was there. It is as if the density of the song has changed. Its the same recording with all the same parts, but now it feels different. Amazing.
